IMing Love
by Poisoned Rose
Summary: A romance started online. It started small and grew into something amazing, love. GaaXNej SasuXNaru
1. Chapter 1

Just kill me now, I'm starting another one. I must be going crazy, but this idea won't rest, and unlike my other stories, I've got it all planned out. So shall we begin?

Summary/Warning: When you meet online there's no guarantee what will happen. For two sets of friends the last thing they expected was love, but that was what they got. This will be boyXboy pairings, if you don't like them, then don't read the story. End of story.

Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto or the movie that this story is being based off of. No I won't say which movie that would give too much away.

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"Get up!"

Ugh, I drug my head up off my desk, it was only five in the morning, and I hadn't gone to sleep till one, how could you possibly function on this little sleep? I guess that this sleep deprivation is what caused my eyes to be so strange, but then, I don't really know.

I got up and put on the least smelly set of clothes I could find, then ran downstairs to go to work. It was ridiculous that I, a teenage boy in highschool, should have to work this early, but my father wasn't exactly what you could call reasonable so life was what life was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I reached the diner, I was surprised to see that Naruto, my only friend already there waiting for me.

When he had heard that I worked this shift, he had signed up to work it with me. I never really did understand why until he told me that it was the only way he was ever going to have any money was if he worked, and if he had to work, he at least wanted to work with a friend.

Somehow, seeing him made me feel a whole lot happier. His huge smile even warranted a small smile from me before we both went into the diner to start our work.

Thankfully, the rush wasn't too bad which meant Naruto and I could talk while we worked.

"Hey, Naru, how long you stay up last night IMing him?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't act like you don't know who."

"Oh, you mean Dark?"

"Who else?"

"I think somewhere around one, you?"

"'Round the same time actually."

"So you actually like this guy than Gaara?"

I didn't respond, and as usual, Naruto backed off. He wasn't one to push that specific topic with me. It had taken him long enough to get me to admit that I really wasn't that into girls, there was no way that he was going to push for more.

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When we finished our shift a seven, we packed up got in my old clunker of a car and headed to school.

It didn't take too long for us, once there, to remember our very specific social places, the resident social outcasts. Not that it was really a surprise, I mean we were two guys who simply didn't act the way we were supposed to, which therefore left us in that ever so unpopular region of nobodies to be picked on by the social hierarchy. Like those chicks over there.

Ino and Sakura, the wonderful heads of cheerleading and most definitely our worst enemies. They used to love to bother us when they could, but eventually around the end of tenth grade, they got bored and just started to flirt constantly instead. With those two.

Sasuke and Neji, the two ruling jocks of the school. Also, the guys that happen to usually show up at the top of our undeniably hot people list. Too bad they're decidedly not gay. They've got girls galore, and they definitely don't seem to mind.

Naruto had frozen next to me when he saw Sasuke coming up next to Sakura. She greeted him with a light kiss and I could practically feel Naruto bristle with anger. I quickly grabbed him and began walking down the hall in the opposite direction.

"It doesn't matter, you can't have him anyway."

"I know, but still, why her?"

It was all I could do to not let out a long frustrated sigh. I knew exactly what he meant. Every time Neji got close to some chick, I felt like punching someone, or at least something. Naruto knew this too.

"Hey," Naruto pulled me out of my reverie," Want to see if the guys are on?"

Yup, leave it to Naruto to come up with something that would cheer us both up. A chat with or internet pals.

We had met them both in a chatroom. They claimed to be two gay guys from our school, and we became fast friends over the internet. They were definitely always understanding and usually very entertaining.

You see, unlike Naruto and I, they were definitely not quite in the boat of ready to admit my homosexuality to the world. Indeed, they were so far in the closet, that Naruto and I often joked that they even had barricades set up to block the door, at least, that was how it was when we first met them.

It has been a while since then, and let's just say, the barricades have started to fall just a little.

Anyways, we both grabbed our phones and were soon in a chatroom with our two best buds, at least wirelessly.

**F0xb0y: Hey guys, sup**

**Dark18: Nothing**

**Light18: Really**

**L0vedeath: U 2 2gether?**

**Light18: Aren't we**

**Dark18: Always**

**F0xb0y: Yup**

**Dark18: U 2?**

**L0vedeath: What do u think?**

**Light18: What u 2 up 2?**

**F0xb0y: Nothing**

**L0vedeath: Were doing the usual ignored by the entire pop.**

**F0xb0y: thing**

**Dark18: no response**

**L0vedeath: u 2?**

**Light18: Usual dodging chix**

**Dark18: thing**

**F0xb0y: I c . **

**L0vedeath: Run!**

**Dark18: ….**

**Light18: …**

**F0xb0y and L0vedeath: Kidding! LOL!**

**Dark18: we should meet u now**

**Light18: itd be fun**

**L0vedeath: Maybe sometime**

**F0xb0y: Bet we already have 4**

**Dark18: hmm?**

**F0xb0y: u know**

**L0vedeath: weve probably already c each other**

**F0xb0y: just don't realize it**

**Dark18: true**

**Light18: all the more reason 2**

At that moment, the bell for class rang. We quickly signed off and headed to class.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

F0xb0y has left chat 

**L0vedeath has left chat**

Sasuke and Neji looked down at their phones, both slightly disappointed.

"We almost had them."

"Almost."

"We'll just have to try again."

"Later."

"We'll meet them."

"Eventually."

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Figured out the movie yet? Bonus points to those who have. A review would be appreciated. This is my first time trying my hand at this, and if you've got any advice, it would be appreciated. Thanx and bye!

Please review, but I guess commanding you to would be a bit hypocritical since I don't review everything I read either.


	2. Chapter 2

Kudos to the reviewer who knew the movie. Yup, this is based off A Cinderella Story, but don't feel too bad if you had no clue. The movie isn't really all that awesome. The plot line just led to inspiration.

6 reviews on the first chapter, that's the most I've ever gotten. (Happy) Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

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A Dance? (Yup, were hitting all the parts)

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The entire day of school was pretty dull. The only period worth attending is art, and that's only because Naruto and I actually get to work together on our project, a giant picture made entirely of died grains of sand. We've been working on it for a couple weeks already and we are actually nearly finished.

Anyways, after school, it was back to the diner for us. We had another shift to cover until 10.

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The diner had been especially busy that afternoon, so by the time we could leave, Naruto and I were both exhausted.

I dropped him off at his house before heading over to mine.

Thankfully, my dad was already asleep, so there was no way he could yell at me when I got in.

I practically flew upstairs so I could get to my computer. It had been a long time since that morning, and I hungered for conversation.

Thankfully, they were all on and already in a chat room. I headed on in.

**L0vedeath has entered chat**

**F0xb0y: so u home?**

**L0vedeath: yup**

**Light18: ur dad?**

**L0vedeath: asleep thankfully**

**Light18: ah…**

**Dark18: we were just talking about the dance tomorrow, you know it?**

**L0vedeath: Halloween one right? **

**Light18: course**

**L0vedeath: I know it**

**L0vedeath: what about it?**

**F0xb0y: they wanna meet us there**

**L0vedeath: uh?**

**Light18: why not?**

**Dark18: itd be fun**

**Light18: besides, we wanna meet you guys**

**Dark18: weve been talking online forever**

**L0vedeath: let me think**

**Private message from F0xb0y**

**F0xb0y: what do u think**

**L0vedeath: don't know**

**L0vedeath: u wanna meet em?**

**F0xb0y: of course**

**L0vedeath: I don't think itll hurt anything**

**F0xb0y: Then lets do it**

**L0vedeath: K**

**(Okay back to the chatroom)**

**Lght18: where r u guys?**

**Dark18: u think they left**

**Light18: maybe**

**Dark18: ya think we scared em off?**

**Light18: maybe**

**Dark18: u know another word other than maybe**

**Light18: maybe**

**Dark18: -screams in frustration-**

**L0vedeath: hey, we talked bout it**

**Light18: and?**

**F0xb0y: c u there!**

**Dark18: where u wanna meet?**

**F0xb0y: uhhhh**

**L0vedeath: meet in the middle of the floor at 9**

**Light18: thatll work**

**Dark18: yup**

**F0xb0y: good here**

**L0vedeath: k, c u there gotta go now, HW**

**F0xb0y: so do I!**

**Dark18: -waves goodbye-**

**F0xb0y: c ya**

**Light18: l8er**

**L0vedeath: night**

**L0vedeath has signed off**

**F0xb0y has signed off**

**Light18: Told u it would work**

**Dark18: yup**

**Light18: what about her**

**Dark18: ……….**

**Light18: working on it?**

**Dark18: nods**

**Light18: well, goodluck**

**Light18 has signed off**

**Dark18: why me?**

**Dark18 has signed off**

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The next morning at work, Naruto and I were trying to figure out if we could really pull off going to the dance.

"We'd have to skip out on work."

"Yup, but they'd cover for us."

"We'd have to get you back home by 12."

"Yup, but we could pull that off."

"Then, I think we could do it. You?"

"Don't see why we can't try."

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School flew by that day. Naruto and I were too wound up about our 'dates' to really pay any attention, but reality decided to slam us in the afternoon.

We were both shocked when we looked up to see that one of the booths we were waiting on was occupied by none other than Sakura, Ino, Neji, and Sasuke.

I looked at Naruto and Naruto looked at me. Neither of us wanted to wait on that table. Finally, I decided to go. I at least could hide my emotions better than Naruto.

I walked up to the table, carefully masking all feeling and said in a monotone. "Welcome to The Sand's Diner, can I get you something to drink?"

They all turned their gazes to me as if I had interrupted a very important conversation. Indeed, Sakura and Ino looked ready to kill, but the guys looked pretty mellow, in fact, Neji's eyes looked almost sympathetic, I felt like I was suddenly drowning in his gaze, but my thoughts were soon interrupted.

"Tea."

"Water."

"Nothing."

"Nothing."

I nodded and tried to shake the thoughts that were running through my head away. I went to fill the drinks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Neji's POV

Sasuke had decided to tell Sakura today about him not going to the dance with her, but it wasn't going very well.

We had gotten to the diner, and still he hadn't even worked a word in edgewise. There was just no stopping her once she started on a topic.

Finally, once we sat down, he simply told her to shut up. Unfortunately for the waiter, that was right when he came up to ask about drinks.

I seriously pitied him as he was faced with death glares from Sakura and Ino. I found myself giving him a sympathetic look, and was it just me, or was he looking directly at me. _He has beautiful eyes. _I froze, where had that thought come from?

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by Sakura and Ino's orders. Sasuke shot me a warning glance before ordering nothing himself, and I followed suit.

Once the waiter left, we were back to our previous conversation.

"What's wrong with you?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke gave her a sad look before answering, "I think we should break up."

"What!"

"We can still be.."

"Don't even say it! You must be going crazy! Who else could be better than me? Come on Ino, we're leaving."

She stormed out of the restaurant hitting our waiter as he turned to the counter to pick up our drinks.

I saw him falling in slow motion and before I knew what I was doing, I was over there having caught him moments before he hit the floor. He wasn't very heavy at al in fact, I doubt he weighed much over 110 pounds.

I helped him regain his footing and he turned around, I assume to thank me, but when he saw me, he froze.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

God must hate me. Why did he, of all people, have to be the one to catch me? _Stop worrying, say thank you, he's going to think you're an idiot._

"Are you okay?"

_See, now he is doubting your mental state, say something._

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for catching me. Do you still need your drinks?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_His eyes are pretty. Wait, did he just say something? Come on, pay attention._

"No, we're leaving."

_Thank god, Sasuke to the rescue._

"Come on let's go."

"Later." I waved goodbye as we left.

He didn't say a word till we reached the car.

"What happened, you froze."

"His eyes."

"Oh, you like him?"

"Maybe."

"You ready for the dance tonight?"

"Maybe."

"Don't tell me we're back to this again."

"Maybe."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well, that's it for chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 3

Ah, the maybe game, I loved typing up that one, and for anyone else worried about it, no, the entire story is not going off the movie, because I thought up some better plot twists. (Cackles happily)

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Running into You

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I was slowly regaining brain function. Finally, I was able to think and move again.

"You okay,' Naruto asked nervously.

I gave a light nod in response, but also said weakly, "I'll be fine."

"Okay, so, what are you going to wear tonight?"

Suddenly, I realized we had another problem.

"I need to go get an outfit, you?"

"Uh…."

"Guess we need to go shopping."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I sighed. The maybe game was getting pretty annoying. Therefore, I decided to change the topic entirely.

'So, what are you wearing tonight?"

"…uh…."

"You don't have anything do you loser?"

"Oh, and you do?"

"No, that's why I asked, now I can drag you along on my shopping expedition.

"Scared to go alone?"

"Shutup."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I can't believe I actually let him drag me to the mall so he could find costumes for us. I must have been experiencing a moment of temporary insanity.

He's managed to get me into one of those stores with hundreds of costumes on millions of racks, and is now running around in circles picking out costumes to try on.

I sigh and lean against a wall. He will find something for me, which gives me time to think and relax.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji and I headed over to the one decent costume place in the mall. Once inside, I was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Hey, isn't that the kid from the diner?"

"Yeah, I think it is, but more importantly, is that Sakura?"

I froze. Damn. I was soooo dead if she found me here.

I quickly walked backwards into one of the nearby isles.

Of course, because I did not look where I was going, I ended up hitting something, no, not something, someone. I knocked into some blonde guy, okay, some really cute blonde guy.

I saw him falling in slow motion, I shot out my arms to try and prevent him from falling, but all that did was bring me down with him. Both of us ended up sprawled on the floor, me on top of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey watch where yo…."

My sentence trailed off as I realized exactly who had knocked into me and had ended up falling with me to the floor.

I could feel the blush rising on my cheeks as he pushed himself up from on top of me. He said a soft sorry and offered me a hand to help me up.

I took it gladly.

"Thanks." I said as I dusted myself off. Thankfully, I could feel my blush receding.

He shook his head; "It was my fault for running into you in the first place."

I laughed, "Really, it's no big deal. I didn't really mind it. You could run into me anytime."

_Wait, did I just say that out loud?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Hold on, does he mean what I think he means?_

_Wow, slow down brain, just because a guy, okay, a real cut blonde azure eyed guy, just made a comment that sounded a bit like a line doesn't mean that he's actually interested. Right?_

"Hey Sasuke, she left."

_Thank god for Neji._

"Thanks."

"Who's gone?"

"Oh, I was dodging Sakura, my x-girlfriend."

"X?"

"I broke up with her today."

"Oh."

"Later."

Okay, now turn around and walk away. Just keep walking. Don't' think about his very pretty blue eyes, just keep going. Don't think about him at all.

"See ya later."

_Agh! So much for that progress._

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I ran to find Gaara. I had to tell him about this. I had held a conversation with him without making a complete idiot of myself. Yay!

Also, I've found the perfect costumes.

Ah, there he is.

"Gaara"

He looked up and gave a nod to show he was listening,

"I just held a conversation with him, and he broke up with Sakura!"

He raised his eyebrows, clearly questioning my information.

"I heard him say it himself."

"Ah, then congratulations."

"So what's up with you?" I asked noting his lack of enthusiasm.

"Just worried that meeting these guys will turn out all wrong or something like that."

"Don't worry about it. We're great friends online; it shouldn't be too difficult offline. Oh, and I found our costumes."

"What are we?"

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"So, what happened, you look almost…happy. You like him don't you"

"No."

"Mhm, just keep saying that."

"No, really…"

"Not listening."

(Aggravated sigh of frustration)

"Come on, what do you want to wear tonight?"

"Hmmm"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Oh dear, this chapter came up a little short didn't it? Oh well. Reviews wanted and welcomed.


	4. Chapter 4

So, went to the doctor today, found out that the MRI found nothing wrong with my arm, and then had them stick a 1 ½ inch needle into my elbow to attempt to withdraw fluid (which failed) and then to insert cortizone to help it heal faster (which made my arm hurt even worse.)

Anyway, it's a new chapter, and the plot is becoming clear, or at least, you can see the humorous confrontation coming up.

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They Like Who?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji and I headed over to his house to get ready, and once we entered his room, we decided that our friends should be told about our new interests. Who knows, they might be able to offer some good advice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Light18 has signed on

"Hey look Gaara, he's on."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then send 'em a message."

"I'm going, I'm going."

**F0xb0y: wassup?**

**Light18: the ceiling, the sky etc.**

**F0xb0y: that's helpful**

**Light18: nothin much**

**Light18: darks here 2**

**F0xb0y: hi!**

**F0xb0y: L.D. is here**

**Light18: well, then hi!**

**F0xb0y: so, what u want?**

**Light18: advice**

**F0xb0y: on?**

**Light18: Guys**

**Light18: &**

**Light18: Dating**

**F0xb0y: what kind of advice?**

**Light18: uh…**

**Light18: how do you ask a guy out?**

**F0xboy: the same way you do a girl**

**F0xb0y: find out if theyre interested**

**F0xb0y: if they are, ask**

**F0xb0y: oh, and make sure they swing that way first**

**F0xb0y: its always important to know that one**

**Light18: oh… k**

**F0xb0y: why u want to kno**

**F0xb0y: you like someone?**

**Light18: maybe**

**Light18: (Dark has stolen keyboard) stop it with the maybes**

**Light18: yes he does**

**Light18: so do you (fighting over keyboard)**

**F0xb0y: k**

**F0xb0y: (LD stole keyboard) who?**

**Light18: these 2 guys in our grade**

**Light18: we always have thought they were kinda cute**

**Light18: (Dark Takeover) but today, when we ran into them, we realized, that we kinda wanted to date them, and they seemed to react positively**

**Light18: u know?**

**F0xb0y: sorta**

**F0xb0y: (FB has regained keyboard control) u mean, they didn't react normally, right?**

**Light18: uh, yeah**

**Light18: I guess u could say that**

**F0xb0y: names?**

**Light18: oh, light likes this guy named Gaara**

**Light18: and I like his blonde friend Naruto**

**F0xb0y: …………………………………………………………………………………**

**F0xb0y: is there a problem with us liking them?**

**F0xb0y: uh……….**

**Light18: wassup?**

**F0xb0y: uh……………**

**Light18: we'll still c u guys at the dance 2night**

**Light18: right?**

**F0xb0y: uh….**

**F0xb0y: (LD has stolen KB back) yeah, well be there**

**F0xb0y: middle of the floor at nine, right?**

**Light18: yup!**

**F0xb0y: c u there**

**Light18: l8r**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Naruto, are you ever going to stop staring at the computer screen like it just bit you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"They just told us they like us, and they don't even know it. Also, they saw us today meaning we do know these guys. And, they don't know who we are, or that they just told us they liked us, and they could hate us for not telling them."

"Also, Naruto, the roof could fall down and kill us. Also, you could fall down the stairs and break your neck. There's simply too many possibilities, and besides, it doesn't matter. If we go and something bad happens, we'll move on. Simple as that."

"But, I don't wan to destroy our friendship. I really like talking to these guys online. We already know each other so well. Maybe this whole relationship was better off in cyberspace."

"Either way, we still have to go tonight. What happens, will be what happens. You ready?"

"I guess so."

"Then let's go."

We went downstairs, got into the car and headed off to the dance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What was with that strange reaction you think Neji?"

"Don't know, maybe they're friends of those guys or something."

"What if they like them too? We could have just destroyed everything."

"Stop worrying so much, if that's the case, then fate will choose who ends up with whom. It's not as if we have any control."

"You know I don't believe in all that fate crap."

"Yeah, but sometimes, it helps if you let it in just a little."

"Maybe."

"You ready to go?"

"Maybe."

"I'm going to leave in the next five minutes, will you be in the car."

"Maybe."

"Will you stop doing that?"

"Maybe."

Five minutes later, we found ourselves in my car headed to the dance.

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Shortness again, but my arm hurts, so I'm going to take a break. OH, and thanks for the reviews, they make me smile.

Friend1: so, what are the costumes?

P.Rose: Ummm 

Friend2: you don't know?

Rose: (smiles sheepishly)

Friend1: how can you not know? Isn't that supposed to be in the next chapter?

Rose: uh yeah

Friend2: then don't you need to know what they're wearing?

Rose: (Nods)

Friend1: well?

Rose: Agh! Give me a break! I'm trying to come up with costumes for an emotionless idiot, a stubborn heir, a hyperactive teen, and a goth who likes death; it's not exactly simple.

Friend1: true 

Friend2: but you have to tell us next chapter

P. Rose: Fine.


	5. Chapter 5

Yay, I thought of costumes. Too bad I won't tell you what they are here. Enjoy

Some of this will be in third person because it I don't want to switch viewpoints a lot. That tends to get confusing.

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Dance Revelations

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When we reached the dance, I sighed as I realized just how many people did attend these things. It was amazing that so much of the student body would assemble to go to a dance.

Thank god, that I ended up in a costume I could at least stand. Naruto had been dead set on getting me into the white angel costume, but I flat out refused, and therefore, he ended up in it and I got this one instead.

It wasn't too bad, really. In fact, I kinda liked it, but I would never admit that to anyone.

The long black robe fit loosely, and I had substituted my usual black eyeliner for blood red, I had even drawn the love symbol on my forehead. The results, one very hot me as a messenger of death.

Of course, that left Naruto in white robes with gold trim, resulting in making him look very innocent and sexy all at once. Definitely an angel.

i felt like laughing as i thought about. We were life and death, and we were going to go face a situation that would either bring to life or kill a possible relationship.

It all had a very ironic ring to it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke and Neji glanced around the back lot before exiting the car. No fangirls in sight, yet. Now, if they could slink inside unnoticed, they might stand a chance.

They took another look around and made a break for it. They managed to make it to the building, but they heard the excited squeals following them. They quickly went into the building and lost themselves in the crowd. They hoped to remain unnoticed, but they were noticed by two.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oi, Gaara, you gotta see those two."

"Naruto, it rude to stare and drool at people."

"So, look at them."

"Fine."

I found myself wearing the idiot's expression the second I did so. The vision was definitely drool worthy.

Neji and Sasuke, dressed as vampires, now that was a sight I could definitely drool over.

Black pants and a black shirt, accompanied with back capes. They had obviously applied a small amount of powder to make their faces even paler and Sasuke had spiked his hair excessively, while Neji let his fall unbound in waves down his back. It was definitely a sight worth seeing.

_Damn, why does he have to look so hot right now?_ I managed to break off my stare and slapped Naruto on the head to break him out of his stupor.

"Idiot, you still can't have him." _Even if they both look hot enough to warrant felonies._

"I know, but there's no law against admiring the view is there?"

"True."

We both watched them for probably a dangerous amount of time, but when we noticed that 9 was only five minutes away, we realized we needed to go too the meeting spot, which meant abandoning our current locations. We gave one final glance and then headed off into the crowd of people, attempting to reach the middle of the dance floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke and I found ourselves mobbed by the usual hordes. It was going to be hard to escape and get to the middle of the floor at nine.

Therefore, we both kept a diligent watch on the time, and when it was 8:57, we both claimed to be thirsty and headed off towards the punch bowl, changing course a soon as we were out of sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When we reached the approximate middle of the floor, the only other people there were some strange girl in a cat costume and a guy from our science class who we didn't even know the name of.

I looked down at my watch; it was 9:05, and still no appearance. I gently tapped Naruto on his shoulder.

He looked at me and nodded in agreement. We both began to try to wade out of the center and back to the edges of the floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_How did they manage to follow us? If we don't hurry, they'll probably leave._

These thoughts raced through Sasuke's head as he and Neji tried to shake off the group of fangirls in hot pursuit and reach the center of the floor. Needless to say, neither action was working so well.

Finally, when they reached the middle of thee floor, there was no one there. It was 9:06.

They swiftly scanned the area for people who looked like they had just left. Their fast eyes soon saw two figures walking away into the crowd still on the floor.

They both began to follow. Pushing aside some that didn't move quite fast enough. They didn't want to lose their targets. This was their only chance. Suddenly, they were stopped dead when Sakura stepped in front of them.

"Sasuke, I've been looking all over for you!"

She ran and hugged him tightly, while he tried to look over her shoulder at the retreating figures' backs.

He looked at Neji who looked rather torn between helping his friend and chasing after their goal.

Sasuke mouthed to him to get going. He'd catch up in a minute.

Neji nodded and continued the pursuit.

He didn't get very far when he suddenly heard a shriek out of Sakura. A shriek that stopped him dead in his tracks. He noticed also, that the two guys he was chasing stopped to listen to the confrontation. He ran to catch up to them, while listening to Sakura continue her little scream fest.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LIKE SOMEONE ELSE! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME? I LOVE YOU! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

The room had gone deathly quiet, so Sasuke's soft reply was heard by just about everyone in the room.

"I just did." Then he turned and left in the direction Neji had run off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally, I've caught up to them.

I stopped right behind them and got a hand on one's shoulder. Then began to try to catch my breath. I hadn't realized just how hard I'd been running till right then. They both did not turn, but one asked softly, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, then managed to get out my question between gulps of air. "Are…you guys…foxboy…. and lovedeath?"

"Yes." The reply came over hesitantly, as if they were unsure how I would know them.

"Good, then let us introduce ourselves."

Sasuke? Guess he must have left Sakura in her state of shock.

"We're Dark and Light. It's nice to meet you."

Both boys froze, and they turned around to look at us.

We we're floored when we saw their familiar faces.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sorry if it's confusing, I blame the pain reliever. Anyways, yes you can kill me for costume ideas; I just kept coming up with a blank, so I went with what my deranged brain could come up with.

The next chapter may be a while. I fear I've been neglecting my other stories.

Oh, and many thanks to the 16 who have reviewed. That's the most I've ever gotten, and probably the best reviews/hits ratio as well.

The longest update yet. Yay! More fluff in the next chapter, finally. I've been feeling fluff deprived.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm glad so many liked the costumes; I worried about them a lot.

Today, my friends and I came up with a classification system for fluff.

I. Fluff- any moment of cute closeness between two people who may or may not be a couple already

A. 3 Kinds

1. Subtle Fluff- just little moments that indicate that you may like someone

a. a look lasting too long

b. a hug being too tight

2. Instant fluff- when love is expressed in sudden unexpected actions

3. General Fluff- 2 sub-categories

a. m-rated fluff

b. all other types of romantic situations

Yes, we have too much free time, and I can happily say that by the end of this chapter, all three of our classifications will have shown up. Yay! (Oops, long notes, sorry : )

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Diving into Choppy Water

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"You're the ones…"

"You guys are…"

"How did this happen!"

They all stood there looking from one face to another as if waiting for someone to jump out and say, April Fools, but, of course, no one did. The thought running through their minds: _this is too weird._

Their staring was interrupted when Sakura caught up to the group.

"You really think you can leave without giving me a reason Uchiha? Think again. I WANT A REASON!"

Sasuke did not flinch. He looked slowly over to Sakura and said softly," You want a reason Sakura? Well, here's one for you."

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand, and before Naruto could even open his mouth, smashed his lips to his own.

Naruto didn't have much time to think, indeed the only thought running through his head was something along the lines of, _oh my god, he's kissing me. _In his opinion, it definitely ended too soon.

It was now Sakura's turn to stand and hope to be the victim of some cruel joke.

"..h…how?…w…what?"

She fainted and surprisingly, Naruto was soon to follow, having finally had the fact that he had just kissed the Uchiha Sasuke overwhelm him just a little bit.

Sasuke caught him and without a word carried him out the back doors. Anyone who had a clue could tell that he was headed off in the direction off the park next door.

Neji and Gaara looked at each other, then at the crowd of now shocked highschoolers. With nods of silent agreement, they both walked out the back doors in the same direction.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji and Gaara decided to sit on one of the many benches in the park to think.

"Well, I guess that's one way of telling the world."

"Yup."

"So, you think we should find them?"

"No, Naruto came with me, and Sasuke came with you, so they're not going anywhere till they find us."

"How do you know he came with me?"

Gaara instantly felt like kicking himself. He didn't want to be thought of as a stalker, and he really wasn't, he was just very observant. _Oh well, there's no point in lying._

"Well?"

"You always drive when you're going to a dance. You have since grade 10."

Neji thought about the red head's statement. What he said was true. When Sasuke's cars started to be too well known to be driven around for fear of being mobbed, Neji had taken over on the driving front.

"How would you know that?"

"I'm observant."

"Ah. I see."

They sat there in silence. Neither were exactly masters at the art of conversation, but finally Gaara broke the silence.

"So, were you surprised?"

"By?"

"Who we were."

"A little, I mean, we had just told you we liked you guys, and then when we find out who you are, you're the same people. Fate is really having too much fun. How about you? Were you surprised?"

"Of course, it's not every day that you learn your crush of four years has a crush on you," Gaara said with a laugh.

"Four years?"

"Yeah, about that long. I think."

"Wow, and I never knew."

"You never asked."

"No, I guess I didn't."

"You guess?"

"Okay, I know. What do you want to do about it?"

"Hmm, what do I want to do about it," Gaara mused out loud as he pulled ever closer to Neji. "I think I have an idea."

Gaara closed the remaining gap, crushing Neji's lips to his own.

It was a moment neither young boy would ever forget. The feeling of finally finding someone whom just maybe loved you. It was amazing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke ended up carrying Naruto to another bench in the park where he sat down wit the still unconscious Naruto leaning on his shoulder. It was a little while before Naruto came to.

When he awoke, Naruto was comfortable and a little cold. He snuggled into whatever the warm thing beside him was, not opening his eyes.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he felt the boy snuggle closer into him, but then a smile tugged at his lips, and he got his arm around Naruto, pulling him a little closer.

This movement interrupted Naruto's thoughts. That and the sudden realization that whatever he was leaning on was well, breathing, woke him up completely. He opened his eyes to better understand the situation.

He was rather surprised when his eyes saw the black material of an all too familiar shirt. _It can't possibly be._ He slowly looked up to see Sasuke's face looking down at him.

"So you're awake."

Naruto was speechless. He almost fainted again, but decided savoring this dream would be better. He managed a weak nod.

"You okay?"

Another nod.

"Can you talk?"

He nodded again.

"Then why don't you?"

Naruto kept staring at his face, and finally came to a decision. If this was a dream, then he should at least enjoy it, right? He shifted his position and met the lips of the Uchiha above him.

Sasuke's eyes widened. _That was unexpected._ Then he kissed back.

The sensation was indescribable. Tongues battled for dominance in an all out war. Eventually, both had to pull back for air.

Naruto gave a sheepish smile than cuddled back into Sasuke. He felt warm and safe. It was a feeling he did not often get to experience, so he was going to savor every minute of it.

Sasuke slung his arm back over him. They both watched the sky. Enjoying the feeling of sharing a moment with the company of another who may love you.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto's and Gaara's precious moments were interrupted when they both felt vibrations in their pockets. The feeling brought them both back to reality.

They needed to go! If Gaara was late back to his house, well, they didn't even want to think about it.

Naruto and Gaara swiftly go up and began running towards the parking lot. Yelling good-byes to their new found loves, and promising to meet again.

When they reached the car, not a word was spoken. They hopped in and began to drive. Naruto was probably pushing the speed limit a little as Gaara hastened to remove his makeup, and change clothes in the backseat.

When they reached his house, Gaara ran in the front door, but was disappointed to find that time had beaten him. The time was 12:02, and his father was awake.

Gaara braced himself for the onslaught.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay, I need help; I'm listening to Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD. It's pretty good too.

P. Rose: 25, 25, 25

Friend 1: What's wrong with her?

Little sister: (Points to computer screen)

Friend 1: 25, 25, 25

Review, it makes us happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Gaara sighed as he checked out the damage in the bathroom. Usually his father just gave him the old one two punch and let him go on his merry way, but, being more drunk and sadistic than usual, he had noticed the remnants of makeup on Gaara's forehead and had cut the pattern into his skin.

Gaara hadn't even screamed. If he had, his dad probably would have stopped, but if he had screamed, he would have shown weakness. Something he had no intention of ever showing to his father.

He cleaned the cut and then placed a bandage over it. If it scarred, he was going to be very annoyed.

He went into his bedroom and turned on his computer to check his email. Temari and Kankuro usually sent him mail every holiday.

Sure enough, there was a picture of Temari and Kankuro dressed up for their partying. Kankuro had removed his face paint and was in an Elvis costume because he lost a bet. Temari, like most girls her age, had used the holiday to dress in as little clothing as possible. She was wearing a black micromini, chain collar, and short black shirt that left much revealed.

He read through the message quickly. They as usual rambled on about their lives at college and eventually remembered in the last two lines that they were actually writing to their brother and threw in a few questions as to how he was doing.

He laughed as he read their questions. _If only they knew._

_  
_He had never told Temari and Kankuro about their dad. He hadn't started until after Temari and Kankuro left for college, so they didn't know it was happening at all.

He didn't want to be seen as weak, so he refused the small want he had to tell them. There was nothing they could do anyway. His dad had him tied to the house until he was 18. There was no escape.

He quickly replied back to their mail with a short response and then turned off his computer. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone else that night.

He went and laid down, but sleep, like it normally did, evaded him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day when he awoke, Gaara realized he was going to have to have to be very careful about work. His new wound couldn't be explained away a simple fall if someone caught a glance of it. Anyone would know that something was up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto met me at the back entrance.

"So what's the damage report?"

"Only one cut, not too bad."

_No need to worry him with the fact that the "one" cut is actually more of a design._

"So, Naruto, how was your night?"

Unsurprisingly, Naruto started to go on and on about his evening, totally forgetting that his friend was probably in need of some sort of medical attention.

He managed to talk away most of the morning and only stopped around lunch when he finally decided to ask Gaara a question.

"How was your night?"

_Hmmm, well it was pretty good until my dad went and cut a symbol into my head._

"Fun."

"How so?"

"Neji and I hung out in the park."

"Ah, **really**…"

"Yes, really."

"Uh-huh, so then, if I was to tell you that you were meeting him for lunch, you wouldn't kill me then, right?"

"Naruto..."

"They both asked, not my fault."

Gaara slowly unclenched his fist. Just because he was meeting Neji for lunch didn't mean he would notice his newly acquired wound.

_Yeah Right._

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I'm sorry it's so short, but I have to go ref a soccer game. The next part is already written out by hand. It should be up soon. Bye!

I have over thirty reviews. (Throws confetti) Yay!


	8. Chapter 8

I just thought I'd share with you my goals when I started this story, so you can see how different I thought this story would be. 1. Follow plot line of _A Cinderella Story_. 2. Write realistic situations. You know stuff that might actually happen in real life. 3. No abusive relationships.

Before writing this I had also never tried boyXboy pairings, but I enjoyed reading them, and since there were not many NejiXGaara fics I decided that if I wanted one so bad I should write one myself.

At the beginning of this chapter, I had already totally ignored 2 of my goals, so I decided to go for the full set. Here we go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji was trying very hard to resist the urge to check his watch for the sixth time in as many minutes. He had told Naruto to tell Gaara to meet him here for lunch, so the question was, where was Gaara?

_Finally. _

Gaara arrived two minutes later, and worry soon replaced Neji's relief when he noticed Gaara's freshly wrapped head.

"What happened?" Neji asked while inclining his head towards the wound.

"Nothing. Just a bad fall. Let's eat."

Gaara walked into the restaurant and sat down at a booth next to a window. Neji sat down after him trying to figure out Gaara's sudden coldness towards him.

They sat in a silence interrupted only when the waitress came over to ask for drinks. Both got water.

After that interruption, and one a little later when the waitress asked about food, they remained in silence until Neji managed to finally convince himself to ask a simple question.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just a passing problem."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Eventually."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

Gaara pasted on a smile. Something that was highly unusual for him to do, and therefore, highly unconvincing, but Neji decided to back off, at least for a while.

"Okay, you can tell me when you're ready."

Neji went back to his food, but found he wasn't really very hungry anymore.

Gaara noticed Neji's unease. He glanced down at his own food.

He had no appetite. The tense mood and unease had killed any desire he had had to eat. He motioned for the waitress to come over.

"We'd like our check please."

"Okay," she began to walk away, but then paused and turned back around. "Would that be separate checks or…?

"Together, please."

"Okay." She smiled happily and walked away.

She returned moments later and Gaara laid the total, tip included, on the table. Then he stood up and grabbed Neji's hand so he would follow.

"Come on, let's go on a walk."

Gaara held on to Neji's hand and began to lead him towards the park. He pulled him along the path till he reached the bench they had shared only hours earlier.

Gaara sat and Neji stood there looking down at him questioningly. Gaara answered with one word.

"Sit."

Neji sat and continued to look at Gaara, puzzled by his actions.

"It's not something I usually talk about. It could take a while," Gaara said with a sigh.

"I have time."

Gaara nodded. He wanted to tell him, he really did, but his fear was holding him back. What if Neji hated him for allowing everything to happen, for doing the things he did? He swallowed nervously and then slowly began.

"It started after my brother and sister left for college. My dad stopped caring about a lot of things, like how much he drank."

Neji inhaled sharply. He could see where this was going and he didn't like the direction very much at all.

Gaara looked at his face to make sure he was okay. Neji nodded at him to say he should continue.

"One night, I was late getting in. I forget why. My dad was more drunk than usual. He hit me."

Gaara saw Neji stiffen, and then Gaara was surprised to feel Neji's warm hand ensnaring his.

"From then on, whenever he was drunk, and I did something wrong, or sometimes for no reason at all, he'd hit me, which led me to coming up with stupid ideas."

Neji's hand squeezed Gaara's lightly, and Gaara's hand held on to it as if it was his last line to life.

"I decided that something must have been wrong with me, and if I could fix that problem, he wouldn't hurt me. I stopped eating for a while. I tried get stronger, to prove I was a son he could be proud of, but nothing worked. Eventually, I started to inflict some of my wounds myself. It gave me control over my pain. I wanted that control. When Naruto found out, he went crazy."

Gaara let a small laugh escape through his lips as remembered Naruto's reaction.

"He practically force fed me until I agreed to eat normal meals. He also personally removed all sharp objects to which I had access, and slowly I began to heal. I realized that the only flawed being in my house was my father. That it wasn't my fault, but I couldn't get out.

My father has complete control over my life. He has the state convinced that I'm a destructive and unstable teen due to his creative lying and my own self-mutilation. Therefore, when I try to leave, I'm just taken back. I'll be taken back until I'm 18, which won't be until January."

Gaara let his final sentence hang in the air. He watched Neji's face as everything slowly sunk in. Suprisingly, or at least, suprising to Gaara, Neji pulled him into a warm embrace.

Gaara tensed, then folded into Neji's body, allowing the tears he'd been holding back to fall.

They sat that way for many minutes. Neji holding Gaara as he cried. Then Neji pulled back a Gaara quieted. Neji raised his hand to Gaara's head.

"So, that's what this is from."

Gaara nodded.

"May I see it?"

Gaara was caught off guard, but he recovered quickly and nodded. He reached up and unwound the bandage.

When the design was revealed, Neji stared at it in disbelief. It stood out sharply on Gaara's pale skin. A look of disgust rose on his face. _How could anyone do this to his or her child?_

Gaara wanted to run, but Neji's grip on his hand prevented escape. He could see it on his face. Disgust. _I knew he would hate me._

"Am I really that disgusting?"

Neji froze. _Gaara couldn't possibly think he disgusts me_, but his expression clearly says he did.

Neji pulled Gaara forward and kissed the offensive mark on his forward before lowering his lips to Gaara's own. He pulled back moments later.

Gaara's eyes were wide with surprise…shock...and…relief?

Neji puzzled over his friend's expression while Gaara raised a slightly shaking hand to his lips.

"I thought you'd hate me," he said softly.

Neji was surprised. He responded quietly. "Gaara, did that seem like hate to you?"

"No…thankyou…for everything."

Gaara pulled Neji into another hug that ended in a kiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So we've left the realms of reality oh well, I don't really care. Next is some good old SasuNaru; just to keep you poor people satisfied. It's pretty much all written down by hand. I just have to finish up. It should be up today or tomorrow considering I have tests the next two days, and when I finish I write, although recently I've been reading _Memoirs of a Geisha_ instead, which is a great book by the way. Must go find out who's buying whose mizuage (Virginity). Later.

Reviews faster updates. Really they do.


	9. Chapter 9

Since I have no Internet connection, I'm going to type now and read later.

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Naruto was waiting nervously outside the restaurant Sasuke had said to meet him at. It was one of those restaurants where you had computers and Internet access. It was one of a few of this type of restaurant in the city. However, his mind wasn't on this or Sasuke. His mind was on Gaara.

He wasn't stupid. Contrary to popular belief, he was fairly intelligent, at least when it came to some things, like Gaara.

Gaara had family problems, and that was an understatement. Naruto knew for a fact that whatever was under that bandage, it definitely didn't come from a fall. However, he could also tell when Gaara wasn't in the mood to talk, so he let it slide. He hoped Neji would help, somehow.

"You okay?"

Naruto was pulled out of his reverie by the appearance of Sasuke.

"I'm great, just some passing problems."

"Like?"

"Nothing major. Not worth sharing. Let's eat."

Sasuke examined Naruto's face. He could tell Naruto wasn't really as unworried as he was letting on, but it didn't really matter. They had more important things to talk about right then.

"Come on then. You've gotta see this."

"What?"

"You'll see."

They went into the diner; they were soon seated side-by-side in front of one of the many computers in the diner. Sasuke typed in the URL for the school's unofficial gossip site. The new hot topic, two pictures, and a small article. The pictures were of Sasuke and Naruto's sudden kiss at the exit of the dance and of Gaara and Neji at the park.

"How'd they…" Naruto's question trailed off as he read the small accompanying article.

_Your star reporter and her ever-present camera has caught two moments to go down in highschool history. The two top jocks, the guys who rule the dreams of young girls everywhere, are totally gay. This reporter saw it with her own eyes and caught it on camera for all to see._

_So, what do you think? The two top jocks and two complete nobodies together. The social ladder has been seriously disrupted, so what do the students think? _

_A new forum has been opened for further discussion._

"What…"

"Oh, it gets better."

Sasuke clicked on the link to the forum.

"Twenty-one pages!"

"I think it's a new record, but I'd have to check."

"Wow."

Naruto began to scan the millions of posts as Sasuke walked off to order some food for them. As he expected, there were many different opinions expressed, but they could be pretty much summarized into a few categories.

Complete Intolerance:

**Posted by Sexy Bl0550m: I can't believe those jerks. It's crazy. They shouldn't act the way they do if they're gay. It's not normal. It's not right. They should be forced to leave the school.**

Denial:

**Posted by Babygirl21: There's no way this is the truth. I've loved those guys forever. It's all just a misunderstanding. That's all.**

Jealousy:

**Posted by GuyinBlack: I can't believe how lucky those two are. Landing the hottest guys in school. I'd love to get a piece of that.**

Acceptance:

**Posted by Laz3: it's their own decision. Besides, it's too troublesome to worry about anyway.**

And finally, the largest category, Mild Tolerance:

**Posted by Himynameis: it doesn't really matter. They like who they like. Well get over it. I don't like the idea of it too much, but as long they don't get overly couply in front of me, it is just another thing to be ignored.**

Naruto continued to read the posts, and by the time Sasuke returned, he was smiling widely.

"What's wrong with you dobe?"

"Hey, that's not very nice jerk."

"Loser."

"Asshole."

"Oh, so you're expanding your virginal vocabulary now?"

"Idiot."

"I know I'm an idiot. Now, what's got you so happy?"

Naruto's grin widened.

"I never thought I'd be the hot topic on a gossip site. It's rather amusing if you ask me. These people have nothing better to do then talk about us."

"So it doesn't…bother you?"

"Why would you think it would?"

'I don't know…"

"Hey, I like you, you like me, and that's all that matters. I don't really care what the world thinks."

"You don't?"

"Not really."

"Thankyou… for that."

Mentally, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. He had been rather nervous that Naruto would want to break it off, but then now, he realized how dumb that fear had been. It also didn't take Naruto long to figure this out.

"You didn't think I would stop see you or something. Did you?"

Sasuke was taken aback. _How did he figure it out_? Naruto easily read his expression as a yes.

"Man, you really are an idiot."

"Hey!"

"You really thought I would leave you over something like this?" Naruto gestured towards the screen.

"I live in a world in which appearance is everything. What was I supposed to think?"

"That I like you, and I don't give a damn about them."

"I see, but what if that wasn't the case?"

"Well it isn't."

Naruto slowly leaned towards Sasuke, and Sasuke met halfway. The kiss was short lived.

"Look Ino the queer come out in public even!"

The two guys broke apart to see Ino and Sakura standing in front of them.

"Yeah Sakura, looks like the losers raised a rung on the social ladder. Now their, man-whores instead."

"Shut the hell up."

Sakura's mouth, that had been about to make another snide remark began to close as Naruto, who was now rather pissed off stood up from the table.

"You know, the last I checked, you guys weren't exactly in a much better category. **Sluts**. Get over your yourselves. He's mine. Got it? All mine. So, get your skinny two bit asses away from our table so **my** **boyfriend** and **I** can eat lunch in a bitch free atmosphere."

_Sasuke mental note: Never piss off Naruto. Hey wait, did he just say I was his? I kinda like the sound of that… _

Sakura and Ino stood there dumb founded. They had never been insulted so many times by one person before. They made a swift retreat, not saying another word.

"Nice."

"Thanks."

"So, if I'm yours, does that make you mine?"

"Maybe…"

Sasuke leaned towards Naruto's ear and whispered softly.

"I like the sound of it, my Naruto…"

Naruto leaned in closer so he was right next to Sasuke.

"So do I."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shall we note, I don't hate Sakura. It's just really fun to make her into a bitch, and as for Naruto's little rant, well I'd just love to say something similar to a few choice people at my school.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, so this is a little late for me. Sorry, I've got end of course tests to worry about, not to mention **wonderful** physical therapy to return range of motion to my arm, so yeah, some updates may be farther apart for a while. Sorry.

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He had washed more plates in the past few hours than some used in a lifetime.

I hate washing dishes. I'm going to go home and break every single plate in my house. Oh why, why did I agree to do this?

"Hey, only ten more minutes left guys," Naruto called back.

Oh yeah, that's why.

If they worked this shift with Naruto and Gaara, they would be able to eat dinner together. Hence, the two sports prodigies ended up in aprons and up to their elbows in soapsuds.

Sasuke stared at the clock, hoping to scare it into moving faster.

"You know Sasuke, time won't go any faster if you stare at it."

"I know. Shut up."

He picked up another plate and began scrubbing violently.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey guys time to go," Gaara called back.

"Freedom."

"Finally."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad."

"I think my hands are going to be permanently wrinkled." (Sasuke)

"Oh, don't worry-"Naruto's reply was interrupted as he climbed into the car they were all riding in," at least you're not breaking out in hives."

"What?"

"You see Gaara and I used to wash dishes all the time—"

"Naruto," Gaara's voice held a hint of threat.

"Oh, it's not that bad." He turned to Sasuke and Neji. "Anyways, one day they changed the soap we were using, and well, let's say Gaara didn't react well."

"What happened?" Neji asked. Now he was interested.

"The next day he had a rash, not to mention badly swollen hands. Thankfully, it went away after a couple days, but he couldn't wash dishes until we got new soap."

Neji and Sasuke smiled at the story, while Gaara, who was driving, gripped the wheel tighter while a slight blush graced his features.

"You know," Neji said with a smirk," that reminds me of this dare we made Sasuke do…"

"Neji," Sasuke was none too pleased with the idea of this story being told.

"Get over it. So, it was a party a couple years ago—"

"We were ten."

"Stop interrupting. So yeah, anyways, we were playing truth or dare…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX- flashback

"So Sasuke, truth or dare."

"Dare." I'm no wimp.

"Hmm," Neji thought about it for a while, and then called the others over for discussion. Sasuke was slightly nervous. Just what is Neji planning?

After what seemed like hours, but was in reality, only a few minutes, the huddle broke and Neji spoke.

"We dare you to go steal your brother's nail polish, paint all your nails with it, and let us take a picture, that you can never destroy."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go…unless you're too chicken to do it.

Sasuke huffed and stormed out of the room. He snuck down the hallway and cracked open Itachi's bedroom door. Thankfully, his brother was asleep, but then, it was two in the morning, and even teenagers needed some sleep.

Sasuke crept in slowly and went up to the dresser. He swiftly snatched the purple nail polish off it. Then he crept back out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX- end Flashback

"It was the best blackmail ever. I think I even still have a copy somewhere. Of course, the even better part was when his brother went ballistic trying to find his nail polish. I mean, really, just how important is nail polish anyways? Thankfully, we weren't caught because we had left the nail polish in the bathroom, and Itachi decided he must have just left it there."

"Now that," Sasuke said," was some good blackmail."

"Yeah it was."

"So what's for dinner?"

"Can you think about anything other than food?"

"Not when he's hungry. I was thinking Rio's by the way."

"Excellent."

"Sounds good."

"Kay."

Rio's was the local pizza place. It was well liked by many for two reasons. One, the pizza was awesome. Two, it had the best arcade around

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe you beat me. How'd do you win every time Gaara?"

"My secret." Gaara headed back to the table where Neji and Sasuke were sitting. He slid in beside Neji.

"Who won?"

"Me."

"…"

"Surprised?"

"You just don't seem to be the type who'd be good at DDR"

"I'm good at a lot of things."

"Really, like what?"

"Oh, this and that. Care to find out?"

"Maybe…"

Their quiet conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Naruto falling gracelessly beside Sasuke on the bench.

"When is the food going to get here?" Naruto asked loudly.

"Soon," Sasuke said with a tint of anger, he had been enjoying Neji and Gaara's little "moment."

"What's wrong with you. Loosen up a little. I mean we're on a date for crying out loud."

"Hmm, maybe I should "loosen up." Sasuke leaned closer to Naruto. "What do you think?"

"Ehhh…food!"

Neji and Gaara were disappointed when Naruto was saved by the delivery of their large pizza.

"Darn, and it was just getting good too."

"Yeah it was."

"Hey, you've got something on your face."

"I do?"

Neji leaned in and licked the offending particle off Gaara's face.

"Nope, not anymore."

"Uhhh, thanks."

He so cute when he blushes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 10. Wow, I never thought I would make it that far. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, but with my arm being so weird and tests that have to be studied for, I don't know.

Thanks for all the reviews. They really make my day.


	11. Chapter 11

Studying for finals, practicing band auditions, and life in general caught up. Thus inspiration was killed for a little while as the brain refused to function, but never fear my inspiration has reappeared. (Finally)

I had to get the plot moving. The last few chapters have been a lot of random fluffy stuff. Cute but not really advancing the plot a whole lot.

Note: Was the last chapter that bad? Only 2 reviews. I mean I know I wrote it after physical therapy and I wasn't feeling too good, but was it really that bad?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gaara fell back onto his bed with a sigh.

_There's nothing to do. Neji and Sasuke have a soccer match, Naruto has to finish his service project, and the diner is always closed on Sundays. There must be something I can do for entertainment._

Gaara got up and walked over to his computer and pulled up instant messenger. He quickly scanned the list of who was in the game room and chose a recently open game of checkers with only one occupant.

_If anything, this will distract me from my boredom_.

**L0vedeath: Hey want 2 play**

**Silent1: sure**

**Silent1: if u want to**

**L0vedeath: I asked didnt I **

**Silent1: yeah…**

**L0vedeath: then let's go**

**Silent1: ok** (AN: Anyone got the identity yet?)

The game lasted a surprisingly long amount of time and for a while it looked like anybody's game, but in the end Gaara lost.

**L0vedeath: good game**

**Silent1: thanks**

**Silent1: u 2**

**Silent1: care for another round**

**L0vedeath: ur on**

The next match was just as long, but as it progressed, Gaara noticed that his opponent was making some foolish mistakes. Mistakes that he/she had not made in the previous game.

**L0vedeath: whats up**

**Silent1: huh?**

**L0vedeath: ur making the mistakes of a novice**

**Silent1: oh, sorry**

**Silent1: im a little **

**Silent1: distracted**

**L0vedeath: by?**

**Silent1: just stuff**

**Silent1: trust me, you wouldn't get it**

**L0vedeath: try me**

**Silent1: I will**

**Silent1: If u really want to hear it**

**L0vedeath: go on**

**Silent1: it silly really, I shouldn't worry at all**

**Silent1: just because he decided to finally come out doesn't mean it will go back to the way it was, right?**

**L0vedeath: a little lost here**

**Silent1: u c, my cousin finally came out **

**Silent1: but not everyone is going to be so supportive u know**

**Silent1: I just don't want to see him hurt again**

**L0vedeath: again?**

**Silent1: a bunch of stuff happened when we were little**

**Silent1: our families were fighting, but we were his only living relatives**

**Silent1: so when his parents died, he moved in with us**

**Silent1: for the longest time, no one would even talk to him **

**Silent1: if they did, it was only cruel words **

**Silent1: I tried to be friendly, but he locked himself up and became cold**

**Silent1: he kept all his emotions to himself **

**Silent1: eventually it became too great**

**Silent1: he tried to commit suicide**

**L0vedeath: harsh**

**Silent1: yeah, but things got better**

**L0vedeath: how?**

**Silent1: well, after he tried to kill himself, a lot of the family felt guilty**

**Silent1: they all started to be kinder, and in the end… **

**Silent1: well, he has been fine for a couple years now, but he's still kinda quiet**

**Silent1: hes got some friends now, so things are better**

**L0vedeath: and u r afraid his coming out may change this**

**Silent1: u never know**

**Silent1: the world can be cruel**

**L0vedeath: even more than u know**

**Silent1: what?**

**Silent1: er, sry got to go, my dad's yelling**

**L0vedeath: wait, what's the name of your cousin**

**L0vedeath: I might be able to help out a bit**

**Silent1: Neji**

**Silent1: l8er** (AN: Surely you saw that coming)

Gaara stared at the computer screen.

_Surely she mistyped that. There's no way._

Gaara looked at the screen again and shook his head.

_It couldn't be, but maybe I should check. Just to be sure._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto looked down at the sniveling kid infront of him.

"Tell me again, what happened?"

"Susi stole Marcy and gave her to Danny who threw Marcy into the tree, and…I…can't...get…her...down!"

The girl broke into a new wave of tears and Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sigh.

He walked over to the tree and grabbed a low branch. It didn't take him long to climb up and grab the doll. He swiftly climbed back down the tree and gave the doll back to the girl.

She smiled widely and said cheerfully," Thanks mister."

Than she ran off to go play some more.

Naruto shook his head as he watched her go. Children were so easily pleased and happy. Now if only he could figure out how to make Sasuke happier.

_He always seems so serious. Brooding or something. He doesn't smile enough either._

_I know, I should try to make him smile every day._

_Yeah, that'd be a start._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After their soccer match, Neji practically dragged Sasuke to the library. He immediately went over to the section on law and began pulling out a number of books and handing them to Sasuke to hold.

"Do you really need all of these?" Sasuke groaned from behind the increasingly large stack of books.

"Yes," Neji answered," this one too."

He stacked another 4-inch thick book onto the stack.

_Who needs weight training? Just accompany Neji to the library. _

_Why in the world does he need all these anyway?_

"Hey Nej, what are all these for anyways?" Sasuke asked as he scanned the titles. (An: That wasn't a typo.)

"Research."

"And what kind of research has inspired you to read _Laws of Abuse and Molestation,_ _Understanding the Criminal Mind_, and _How to Prove Abuse_?"

"I'm doing it for a friend," Neji answered.

"You know Neji, you're a terrible liar," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"I'm not lying!"

"You're not telling the whole truth either."

"Uh…"

"Don't worry, I already know. It's about Gaara right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Naruto told me…I can't believe you were going to try and deal with it by yourself. You're not even that good with sort of stuff."

"Yes I am."

"Yeah, and that's why you decided not to help that kid with his project on laws…because it would be too boring."

"Okay, so maybe they're no my strongest point. That doesn't mean I can't try to help him!"

Sasuke was slightly taken aback by Neji's sudden rise in volume, but he quickly regathered his thoughts.

"Hey I've got nothing against you trying. I'm just disappointed you didn't ask for my help."

"Well, I didn't know that you already knew, and I really didn't want to worry you…"

"Oh, and you thought checking out books with disturbing titles wasn't going to worry me?"

"Sorry, okay? You want to help?"

"Of course."

"Then let's keep going."

Neji placed another book onto the stack.

_If my arms break I'm blaming you Gaara._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So, not much fluff, but the plot is finally moving on. (Screams and Cheers)

If updates stay spread out, I'm really sorry, but life is hectic. I'm in physical therapy restoring motion to my arm, and finals are right around the corner.


	12. Chapter 12

"That's them huh?"

"…still can't believe it…"

"They could do so much better"

"I hate them."

"Fags…"

Comments like these had followed Gaara and Naruto since first period that morning. Some hadn't cared, but those who did, made sure their feelings were heard by all. They could practically feel the stares boring into them as they sat down for lunch.

"You know, I think I preferred invisibility, " Naruto said with a grumble. Gaara nodded in agreement. Then they sat in silence, both deep in thought.

Their quiet meditations were interrupted by the arrival of Sasuke and Neji.

"So how has you guys day been?"

"Usual idiots and such, you?"

"Not much worse for wear."

"Good."

"Do you guys not eat?" Sasuke asked, noting the lack of food in front of both Naruto and Gaara.

"No money."

"Like my dad would feed me," Gaara said with a harsh laugh.

"Well, you have to eat something," Neji said. Sasuke nodded in agreement, and they both began to divide their food.

"No, really…"

"We'll be fine."

"Just eat it."

"…but…" Gaara was bent on protesting.

"Come on. Do it. For me." Neji begged.

Gaara grabbed a piece of food and began to eat. Sasuke may have imagined it, but he was quite sure he heard Gaara mumble out, "Cheater."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Draw something important to you," Kakashi their art teacher instructed before quickly sitting down and reburying his face in his little book.

_Well that's a broad topic._ Gaara thought for a little while longer, then grabbed a stick of charcoal and began to draw.

30MINUTESLATER

Naruto sat there biting the end of his pencil. Something still wasn't right, and besides, no one could ever see this drawing anyways. He began to rip the page out of his sketchbook. _Time to start over. _A hand stopped him from completing the rip.

"You know dobe, I'm not quite what to think of you trying to rip me up."

Naruto froze. _Damn!_

He blushed crimson red when Sasuke leaned over his shoulder to get a better look.

"Pretty good dobe, but something's missing…"

Sasuke put his other arm around Naruto and took his pencil out of his hand. Naruto blushed deeper as Sasuke got closer.

Sasuke whispered quietly into Naruto's ear. "Now, close your eyes." Naruto complied, and for the next twenty minutes he sat there with his eyes shut lost in the scratching of pencil on paper and the rhythm of Sasuke's breath.

Naruto was rather disappointed when Sasuke pulled back slightly to whisper in his ear. "You can open them now dobe."

Naruto opened his eyes, and his breath caught in his throat.

There was Sasuke. Naruto had drawn him with his usual annoyed expression, but it was the addition that took his breath away. Now, Naruto was there too. Arms thrown around Sasuke from behind with a huge smile on his face. Across the top the words _The most Important Thing _were scrawled in neat cursive.

Finally Naruto regained his voice, "Thank you…"

"Your welcome dobe," Sasuke replied as he linked his arms back around Naruto. Naruto leaned into the embrace and felt the light brush of lips on his neck.

_So this is what love feels like._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

10 minutes later, Kakashi was walking around to check that they had actually spent their hour creating something. A smile graced his face when he saw the boys' picture.

"Good job guys."

The next one he stopped at was Gaara. All that was in front of him was a blank page of a sketchbook.

"You didn't draw anything?" Kakashi said in slight disbelief.

Gaara nodded.

He let out a sigh. "Gaara, you haven't drawn anything the past couple of weeks. You do realize that you are in an art class, right?"

Gaara nodded.

"Do you also realize that in order to pass you must draw something?"

Gaara did not respond.

Kakashi shook his head," Just see me after class."

Kakashi waked on, stopping next in front of Neji, who also had only a blank page in front of him. "Hyuga, don't tell me you're taking after your boyfriend and didn't draw anything also?"

Neji blushed and shook his head. He flipped back a page in his sketchbook. On it was an elaborately drawn kanji symbol for love, dripping…blood?

"Eh…heh…well done'" Kakashi finally replied, obviously slightly uncomfortable by the rather disturbing image. He walked away rather quickly.

Neji laughed as he closed the book and got up to leave.

"You didn't need to scare him you know."

"But it was fun," Neji countered. "I'll see you outside, alright?"

"Later." Gaara turned towards the front desk. "You wanted to see me?"

"Not you really, just that sketchbook."

"Why?" Gaara clutched said book closer to him. He had no intention of ever letting anyone see this book.

"Because Gaara, you draw in it every day, then turn around and say you have nothing to show me."

"So?" Gaara asked defensively.

"So, unless you want to fail this class, you'll show it to me."

"…but…" _Damn I can't fail a class. The last time I got a B was bad enough._ Gaara shuddered at the memory. "There's no way out of this is there?"

"No."

Gaara handed over the book.

Kakashi began to quickly flip through the pages of the book. He paused to appreciate a few, but Gaara could not tell which one's they were. When he was finished, he smiled slightly and handed the book back to Gaara.

"So, do I fail?"

"No, those are quite good, in fact, I think they might be good enough to win at the Expo. If you are willing to enter them."

"No way." _There's no way anyone is ever going to see these. I'm burning them when I get home._

"Just think on it okay, and whatever you do, don't burn those up, they're beautiful." Kakashi paused for a moment. "You know, if you won the Expo, you'd be set for college next year."

That made Gaara's fast moving mind falter in its process of figuring out how to destroy every picture. "College?"

"Yeah, they're sponsoring the winner to go to a college of their choice."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

_I'd have a way to escape. Perfect!_ "You know Kakashi, I might take you up on that offer."

Gaara walked out, thoughts running through his head. _If I did win, it would mean I could go as far from my dad as I wanted, but it would also mean showing people my pictures_. "Do I really want everyone to see them?"

"See what?" Neji asked, interested in the red head's brooding expression. Gaara eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't realized Neji had waited for him in the hall. He was vaguely aware of Neji taking the sketchbook out of his hands, but the fact of it didn't really register in his shocked mind until Neji had opened it and started looking at the pages.

"Give that back!" He tried to grab the book away, but Neji easily dodged the attempt and continued to flip through the book. Gaara made a couple more attempts before giving up and watching helplessly as Neji flipped through the book.

_I don't get it. What's up with him._ _These aren't half-bad; in fact they're quite good._ Neji glanced at a sketch of Naruto and Sasuke together, Sasuke drawing over Naruto's shoulder. _I don't get what he was so worried about._

"You know, I don't see why you're so defensive, these aren't that ba…" His voice trailed off, and Gaara realized he must have reached **that **page.

He turned and ran.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I'm in an evil mood today, so I'll leave it there. What is **that** picture? (Cackles evilly) You will never know.

Kidding, kidding, you'll now when I update again. Whenever that is.

Millions of thanks to all of those who have reviewed. I never thought I'd get over 50. Thank you so very much.


	13. Chapter 13

So, I've now officially had someone slam my story. Unfortunately, said individual did a very poor job. If someone is going to insult my story, they should at least do so intelligently. "Stupid and gross" are very poor choices for insults. Something like, "This is an offensive, boorish piece of shit," now that has an intelligent ring to it.

Now, on to picture discovery.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gaara turned and ran. He did not look back. He kept running until he got into his car and slammed the door. Then, he jammed the keys into the ignition and kept running.

He finally stopped the car at his favorite spot. A turnaround point on a local mountain from which you could see the entire town in the valley below. At night, all the lights appeared like tiny stars in a sea of black. Gaara got out of his car and sat on the trunk, looking out over the valley.

"He must hate me now because of what happened." Gaara fell back against the car and listened to the radio, hoping to drown out all the chaos in his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji stared at the picture, thoughts racing through his head, but then he heard Gaara's footsteps. He saw Gaara disappearing around the corner of the hall. "Damn." Neji snapped the book shut and took off after Gaara, yelling at him to slow down. He reached the parking lot in time to see Gaara speed away.

"Why…" Neji reopened the book and looked down at the page. _Who is this?_ Neji looked at the road Gaara had sped off on. "I have to find him."

He got in his car and headed to the diner.

To Neji's disappointment, Gaara wasn't there. He was about to leave when Naruto popped up from behind the counter.

"Hey Neji! Gaara's not here!"

_Why is he being so loud, and why is his face red?_ "I know."

"So why are you here then?" Naruto said with a slight hint of impatience.

_What's with him?_ "He ran off."

"Oh…why?" Naruto asked cautiously. "Gaara usually isn't the type to run."

"He ran after I saw this." Neji handed the sketchbook over to Naruto opened to the page he had stopped on.

Naruto stared at the page in disbelief. Then he said in a whisper," I never knew he had a picture of her…"

"…but Naruto, who is this?" Neji looked down at the page in which a girl with brown hair and soft green eyes was hugging Gaara from behind. They were both smiling. "She reminds me of someone, but I can't say why."

Naruto took the book from Neji, eyes still wide and began to flip through the pages. _He's drawn this much! _He stopped again on the page. _He did really care about her. _He continued flipping forward, noting when the pictures began to take on a more depressed light. _This must have been when…_Naruto shook his head. He was looking at Gaara's life, his feelings. He noticed when the images started to regain a feeling of hope. The last page that had been drawn on made Naruto smile wide.

"What, What is it?" Neji had been standing there patiently the entire time, and nerves were getting to him.

Naruto smiled wider. "You've got nothing to worry about. Gaara loves you." Naruto handed the book back to Neji opened to the last page. At first, all Neji could do was stare at the image. It was of him and Gaara that first night in the park. Their first kiss. Neji's fingers traced the outline in awe. _But…_

"Still Naruto, who is that girl?"

Naruto shook his head and turned around. "That's for Gaara to say."

"But I don't know where he is."

"Try one of the turnarounds on the mountains. He likes to go there to think."

"Which one?"

"Hard to say." _Truly, he always goes to the same one, but you both need time to think._

"Naruto…"

"You might want to get started if you plan to find him before nightfall," Naruto said with a smile over his shoulder.

"Argh, see you later." Neji ran out of the diner.

Naruto smiled softly as he watched him go. "You'd better tell him Gaara. Otherwise, he'll go insane."

"That's Neji for ya," Sasuke said coming up from behind the counter. "So who is that girl anyways?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "No one really." Naruto turned around and started to wrap silverware. He felt Sasuke walk up and put his arms around him, stopping his quickly wrapping fingers.

"Naruto," he whispered breathily," You're a terrible liar."

Naruto leaned back into the embrace, allowing himself to relax.

"Tell me," Sasuke whined.

Naruto sighed. "You know I can't say no, don't you?"

Sasuke nodded against his back. " So when are you going to tell me?"

"Over dinner okay?"

"That's fine." Sasuke pulled away. "At dinner then." He turned around, then looked over his shoulder with a smile. "I won't forget."

Naruto watched as Sasuke left. Then returned to wrapping silverware. _I know you won't. That's the problem. This was supposed to remain buried forever. _Naruto thought back to Neji's worried expression. _Please tell him Gaara. He deserves to know._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gaara laid on the trunk of the car watching the sun as it slowly sunk towards the horizon. Vaguely, he realized that he had missed work. "Oh well." He fell back into deep thought, but the sound of an approaching car interrupted his meditations.

He looked up to watch the car pass, but then he noticed the familiar hum of the engine. The car pulled up next to his and cut the engine. He laid back down and closed his eyes. He heard the slam of a door and the crunch of feet on gravel. He opened his eyes when he felt a shadow cast over him.

"It's been a while Gaara."

"Yeah it has Haku."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, look what I did, and you all thought it was Neji. (Laughs at your expense) I guess I'm feeling really evil today. A cliffie of sorts, and a short chapter.

I'm having typing problems today, so excuse my errors, and many thanks to the ones who reviewed the last chapter. I'm over sixty. (dances around in circles)


	14. Chapter 14

I could update faster if it didn't involve so much typing and sorry if the last chapter confused you. It was a little strange, but I think it is understandable. (Somewhat)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, what brings you here Gaara?" Haku asked siting down on the trunk

"Same old, same old," Gaara said as he sat up. "You?"

"Zabuza," Haku said with a sigh.

"What now?" Gaara asked cutting Haku off. Zabuza always did something. His random mood swings from affectionate to heartless always left Haku bewildered. It often led to him coming to the turnaround to think. It had been by chance that he and Gaara had met one night. That night they were strangers but overtime, they had become, well, friends in a way.

Between each other, they talked about their problems freely. They didn't worry about judgement and always knew that no matter what someone was listening. Understanding wasn't always necessary, just knowing someone else had listened made them feel better. It was a special relationship, but lately Gaara had been too busy with work to show up.

"Nothing bad actually," Haku said while adjusting his location on the trunk," he just told me to leave, so I left. I'm not upset."

"Why?"

"I think he's planning something, but I don't know for sure. Either way, I know he'll call me back eventually." Haku turned and looked at the valley. "He always does."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both deep in their own thoughts. Than, Haku interrupted the silence. "Why are you here Gaara?"

Gaara sighed and looked over at Haku.

"Oh, so it's one of those problems, huh?"

Gaara nodded.

"What happened?"

"He saw the picture."

"Which one?"

"The one of me and Marya."

"Did he recognize her?"

"I don't think he has yet, but he will. It's my fault that she is dead, and when he realizes that, he will hate me.

"Don't you think you should let me decide that?"

Gaara's head jerked up in surprise. How had he missed the sound of the car? He must have been more distracted than he realized, because Neji was definitely there.

"Shouldn't I be able to choose?" Neji asked leaning closer to Gaara.

Gaara blushed and looked down at the ground. The ringing of a phone interrupted the moment. Haku looked down at his cell as a message popped. He smiled as he read it.

"Hey Gaara," he said as he jumped off the car," I've gotta go."

"Later."

"See you soon."

Haku quickly withdrew into his car. Neji watched him leave. Then he turned his attention back to Gaara.

He sat down next to Gaara and put his hand on the side of Gaara's face, slowly turning his head so they were again facing each other. They sat in silence; eyes locked for many minutes before Gaara turned his head away and looked again out over the valley.

"Why don't you hate me?" he said softly. "You recognize the girl, right?"

"Marya Van…"

"She died"

Neji nodded. "In an accident a few years ago, but I don't understand why that would make me hate you."

Gaara sighed. "It wasn't an accident. He meant for her to die. She was too close. Too dangerous. She shouldn't have been dragged into any of it, but I let her be, and because of that, he had her killed. It was my fault. I'm a monster."

"Gaara!"

" I am!" Gaara yelled, showing an unusual amount of emotion. "Don't you realize it! I'm doing the same thing again! Dragging you into to it! Don't you realize that in the end you'll get hurt! I will only leave you pain…" Gaara's voice quieted as he hit the end of his tirade.

"Gaara," Neji placed a soft hand on his back to comfort him. _Gaara jerked away. He must leave. I don't want him hurt._

He walked over to the rail and looked out over the valley. Then he said softly, "You should leave."

"Why?"

"Didn't you listen? I'm a monster. You should hate me. You should leave so you can be happy." Gaara said in desperation.

"Why?" Neji repeated walking up to Gaara and placing a hand on the side of his face. "Why?"

Gaara turned into the touch subconsciously, but soon jerked back to reality and turned away. "Because, I don't want you to be hurt. I…" Gaara snapped his mouth shut. _I can't tell him that._

"You what Gaara?" _Just tell me. I need to hear it._

"I…it's nothing," Gaara turned and started walking towards his car. "You should leave."

Neji caught him by the wrist and pulled him back into an embrace. "Why?" he whispered quietly into Gaara's ear.

"Because…" Gaara's voice trailed off as Neji's lips pressed lightly against his neck.

"Yes?"

Gaara sighed. "You won't leave, will you?"

"You're starting to catch on."

"Why?" Gaara asked turning around.

"Because Gaara," Neji whispered as he pressed the open sketchbook into Gaara's hands," I love you too."

Neji leaned in and kissed Gaara lightly on the lips then pulled back a fraction to say softly," It's getting late," Neji said, noticing that the sky was alight with stars," I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

Gaara couldn't find his voice, but he did manage a weak nod.

"Later then." Neji gave Gaara another quick kiss before pulling away. He got into his car and left.

Gaara stood there, a hand at his lips, looking at the book that was opened to the page on which Gaara had drawn their first kiss with the simple words _I love _above. _What just happened?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Embrace the shortness. (The next one should be longer.) Sorry about the wait. Many thanks to reviewers, old and new.


	15. Chapter 15

"Gaara took her death pretty hard obviously. He hasn't gotten close to anyone since." Naruto finished up the tale which he had spent most of the evening telling.

Sasuke nodded. "Understandable."

"That's what I thought, but he's much happier now you know? He is a lot more at ease."

"Really?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to meet Gaara right after her death. He was downright scary. Suicidal almost, but he decided to stick around."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, for once genuinely interested.

"He said, 'there must be a reason why I'm still here and I intend to find out what it is', whatever that means." Naruto answered.

"Oh, well that's—" Sasuke's response was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone. He quickly pulled his out and flipped it open.

"You found him?" "It's on?" "Should I be there?" "On my way."

Sasuke flipped the phone shut and stood up, laying the bill on the table. "Let's go," Sasuke said as he started towards the exit.

"Hwy, where are we going?" Naruto asked loudly as he followed the rapidly moving Sasuke out of the restaurant.

"Neji's," Sasuke replied simply as he climbed into the car.

"But why?" Naruto whined as he climbed in on the other side.

"I'll explain on the way," Sasuke said as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

When they got on the man road, Sasuke began to explain. "Neji wanted to help Gaara out, but the books and police say they need proof. Neji intends to get it."

"How?" Naruto asked.

"Hidden microphone."

"On Gaara?"

Sasuke nodded as he turned into Neji's driveway.

"So, let me get this straight. We get a recording, give it to the police and Gaara's good to go?"

"Theoretically."

"How so?"

"There's custody and all this other crap, but he'll definitely be out of that house." Sasuke said his as they went up the stairs of the front porch. He rang the doorbell. Neji answered.

He ushered them inside without a word and motioned for them to follow him. They followed Neji to his room where the receiver to the recorder was set up.

"So," Naruto said flopping down onto the bed," what now?"

"Now," Neji answered," we wait."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, silence and the creaking open of a door replaced the overwhelming sound of a car engine that was coming from the receiver. They heard the echo of footsteps on wood, then a gruff voice demanding," where've you bee," in a slurred speech that screamed, "I'm drunk."

There was no response, just the continuance of footsteps on wood. Then, "You'll answer when I'm talking to you!" They heard a crash of breaking glass and the thud of something falling to the floor. /a soft groan was heard.

The boys went rigid. "Not so tough now are you?" The sounds of glass plinking to the floor. Of something slamming into a wall. "Still won't answer? I'll just go ask that blonde friend of yours, or maybe, that new one that's been hanging around. Tell me, what's his name again, Neji or something?"

They heard a ragged intake of breath. "Stay away from him."

"Who will make me? You?" The voice was incredulous. "I'll break him and have him disposed of, just like her. You can't stop me." They heard another slam and the sliding o something down a wall.

"I won't let you…"

"How? From down there? You can't do anything. You're useless. A monster. No one can love you. Care about you. You're alone." They heard the sound of a foot meeting a stomach. A gasp for breath.

"That's…not…true…my…friends…they…care…about…me…" heavy breathing could be heard. Another thud.

"You don't have any friends." Another loud thud. The sound of someone storming away.

"I'm…sorry…Marya…I…don't…think…I'll…be…keeping…that…promise." They heard the thud of someone falling to the floor.

That thud seemed to wake the guys from a trance. Naruto was instantly up, hitting mute on the recorder. "We have to hurry."

Naruto and Sasuke were at the door; they looked back, surprised to see Neji still on the bed. He seemed frozen sitting there staring at the receiver. "Come on!" Naruto practically yelled," we can still help him! We have to…"

Neji nodded slowly," Help." Then, suddenly, he seemed to wake up. He was soon running out the front door of his house. Naruto and Sasuke not far behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they reached Gaara's house the door was unlocked and ajar. They entered the house cautiously. The hallway seemed the same; then they entered the front room. Naruto felt like throwing up.

"Gaara!" Neji ran over to a bloody figure hunched over near a wall. The sounds on the tape slowly fit together. Painting a gruesome scene. It seemed that a Gaara had been thrown into a small glass table. Then, beaten badly, with glass cutting into his skin. The shards and blood were everywhere. "I'll call an ambulance." Sasuke left the room to get the phone.

Naruto walked over to Gaara. He sat down next to Neji. Brushing Gaara's bangs off his forward Naruto sighed. "You better not die now bastard," he said softly. " We still have our little bet. You can't die yet!" Naruto's fist hit the wall in frustration.

"Nar-ruto, Ne-ji."

Neji and Naruto looked down at Gaara. His eyes were open and bleary, disoriented. Sasuke came in to the room and knelt down with the others. "They're on their way."

"Sa-suke."

"Gaara," Neji said softly, taking his hand.

"Nar-ru-to," Gaara said softly, turning his head towards the blonde, then back to Neji," I win."

He fell unconscious again.

The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance.

Naruto turned into Sasuke. A few teas falling down his face. Sasuke pulled him into a hug. Letting him cry into his chest.

Neji sat there, holding Gaara's hand. His eyes were again distant and glistening with moisture.

"Please Gaara, hold on."

For the first time in many years, tears fell from Neji's eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well, this is written Tuesday, and you'll be reading it Saturday or Sunday depending on when I get home from vacation. I hope for there to be another chapter up too because it seems cruel to leave you there for another five days while I'm on retreat with my church.

I'd love a review. I expect that this fic will end somewhere around twenty chapters unless, a new idea comes to me.

I'm too busy to check for typos right now. If there are any bad ones, tell me.


	16. Chapter 16

"Gaara wake up." Neji pleaded as he held his hand.

It had been three days. Three long days since the accident. The broken bones had been set. The cuts stitched, but Gaara had not woke up. The doctors said he might never wake up, or that he could wake up with memory loss or that he could wake up completely fine, remembering everything, but no one would know until he woke up.

So, Neji had been there, every day. From the earliest visiting hour to closing. Hoping for Gaara to open his eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke and Naruto sat across from each other at a coffee table in Neji's house. They had been staying there for two reasons. One was emotional support. Neji was a wreck. The other was because in terms of distance, Neji's house was closest to the hospital.

They had developed a pattern for the time when they would wait for Neji to arrive home at eleven. Study their glasses, take a drink, look at each other, and look at the clock. It was an uninterrupted pattern, broken only when Sasuke had tried once or twice to start a conversation.

_There's something different about him_. Sasuke thought as he watched Naruto glance up at the clock. Sasuke studied Naruto closely. _His eyes…they're dark. He's lost hope, but why?_

"Naruto," Sasuke asked softly," what's wrong?"

"My best friend's in the hospital, and you ask what's wrong? I didn't know you could be so stupid." Naruto replied angrily.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?" Naruto practically yelled as he stood up and walked over to the window in the room. He stood in front of it, running his fingers along the dark glass.

"I don't know, but something's different. Why?" Sasuke stood up and followed Naruto's path to the window. Standing next to him as he looked out into the darkness.

"It's my fault," Naruto said softly.

"What?" Sasuke said surprised.

"That Gaara was attacked, that he was hurt. It's my fault."

"How can you say that."

"I knew. I've known. I should've been there. I should've stopped it. I should have done something." Naruto said in tone rich in self-loathing.

"How can you think that?" Sasuke asked in quiet shock.

"How can I not? I've known for years and never done anything. I could have done something." Naruto said as he clenched a fist.

"What? What could you have done?" Sasuke asked softly.

"I don't know." Naruto replied shakily. " but, I sho-should have been able t-t-to…"

Naruto didn't manage to finish his statement as he broke down into tears. Sasuke caught him as he collapsed to the floor and half-carried, half-dragged him to the nearby couch.

Sasuke usually wasn't one for giving comfort, but for Naruto, he felt an exception could be made. As he sat there running his hand back and forth across Naruto's back, he saw a shooting star, and he, who had always believed wishes to be made by the foolish, made one himself.

_Please let them be okay._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji looked up as the door opened promptly at eleven that evening. He stood up slowly, puzzled because the nurse had appeared carrying a blanket.

"You can stay here for tonight." She said softly as she handed him the blanket.

"Why?" He asked shocked.

"Because," the girl said simply," you've been here every day, dawn till dusk. The doctors figure letting you stay a couple of nights, especially when there is no school the next day, won't hurt anything."

"Thank you." Neji took the blanket from her and went to sit back down next to Gaara.

"Your welcome, kid." The nurse said as she closed the door.

Neji wrapped the blanket around himself and again took up Gaara's hand. He lay his head down on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neji felt fingers running through his hair. The hand was soft and moved slowly through the strands. _Gaara's hand,_ he somehow realized subconsciously.

Neji shut his eyes tighter. _Please, let this dream last. _However, Neji felt the world's resolve for him to wake up, and slowly he began to open his eyes, but, the hand didn't stop. His eyes shot open as he sat up quickly.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up."

"Gaara!" Neji lunged forward, embracing the red head tightly. "Don't do this again!"

"Neji…can't…breathe."

"Oh, sorry." Neji loosened his hug, but he didn't let go.

"Everything's okay now," Gaara said softly.

"Yes everything's okay," Neji echoed, and for once it was true.

Today, right then, everything was perfect.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

Okay, typed at midnight, and six in the morning, but I think it turned out okay, don't you? It's too early to check for typos, just ignore them.

I won't be able to update until Saturday. I'm going to the beach with my church this week. Sonfest 2006! Florida, here I come.

Sorry, I know it's short, but at least I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger for a week. Not that I resolved everything. Oh no, there's much more to come.


	17. Chapter 17

Uh…Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad that a story I was so worried about writing didn't end up going horribly wrong. And yes, everything is looking up isn't it? Not sure how long that will last though…

Kidding, kidding…or am I?

Hmmm…I don't know. I'll get back to you on that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"He needs to eat."

A nurse's voice interrupted Neji and Gaara's embrace as she walked in with a plate of food.

"Okay," Neji said pulling away from Gaara. The food was set in front of him and Gaara stared at it disinterested.

"Please eat it," the young nurse said nervously. "You need to get your strength back up."

Gaara nodded slowly and took a bite. Then scowled at the nurse, waiting for her to leave.

It didn't take long for her to get the message. "Call me in when you're done." She withdrew quickly from the room.

As the door closed Neji laughed lightly. "You didn't have to terrify her."

"She interrupted me."

"Did she?" Neji asked leaning closer to Gaara.

"Yes, she did." With that, Gaara closed the remaining gap between their lips. Neji pulled back moments later. Gaara scowled.

"You need to eat." Neji supplied simply. Gaara's scowl deepened as he ate another bite.

"Stupid nurse," Gaara mumbled darkly as he continued to eat.

Neji smiled as Gaara continued to eat, and just as he was finishing Naruto and Sasuke walked into the room followed by Haku and a guy Neji hadn't seen before.

"Gaara, you're awake!" Naruto practically caused him to fall off the bed when he ran into the room and hugged him.

"Uh…" Gaara looked with pleading eyes at Neji.

"Naruto, I don't think Gaara can breathe."

"Oh, right, sorry," he let go and stepped back pulling forward another chair. The others were soon to join them.

Gaara looked at all the faces for a few seconds, a puzzled expression on his face. _They're all smiling. Freaky. And how'd I get here, and why can't I move half of me?_

Gaara sat there trying to reason it all out. _Let's see. I went home. Dad was angry, no surprise. More drunk then usual. He…_Gaara shuddered, remembering the non-to friendly encounter that followed. _So how'd I get here?_

"Gaara," Neji said, a hint of worry in his voice, noticing the shudder," are you okay?"

"I think so," Gaara replied unsurely. "What happened?"

""You don't remember?" Neji asked surprised.

"I remember my dad throwing me into a table, and hitting a wall, among other things, but then, it goes fuzzy. I remember voices, flashing lights, and then waking up here. Which reminds me, where is here and how'd I get here?"

The guys looked at each other uneasily. Who was going to do the explaining?

"You're at the hospital," Haku supplied quietly. "You've been unconscious for three days."

"You were brought here in an ambulance."

"That I called."

"But that doesn't explain how…"

"We put a microphone on you," Neji said with a sigh.

"What?"

"You know, one that will record sound. The police said we needed evidence so we decided to get them some."

"We never thought it would turn out so bad."

Gaara sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "So, you somehow stuck a recorder to me in order to help me out and you didn't tell me? Wow…"

Neji tensed along with the others.

"I think," Gaara said turning to Neji," that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Really?"

"Really." Gaara smiled softly.

"Gaara! You're awake!"

In a flash four blonde ponytails were in Neji's face as a girl he had never seen before ran to hug Gaara, and started to cry on to his chest. A guy entered after her.

"You had her worried idiot." He said nonchalantly from the doorway.

"It's all our fault." The girl cried into Gaara's chest. "He said he would never hurt you. He promised me. He promised…"

"Temari," Gaara said, slapping a hand over her mouth," what do you mean and what are you doing here?"

Temari sighed and fell back into the chair Sasuke had moved from. Her eyes stared intently at the floor as she spoke.

"Dad…he did it to us too…he said he wouldn't touch you if I…" She broke down into tears again.

"If you what Temari?" Gaara said impatiently.

Kankuro shook his head from the doorway. "She's already told the investigators today. She'll tell you later."

"They've caught him?"

Kankuro nodded.

"Stupid bastard. I hope he rots in there!"

Gaara looked back at his sister. _Obviously, whatever happened was bad. Maybe it was… If he did that, he deserves to die._

Sasuke and Naruto slowly pulled out of the room followed by Haku and Zabuza.

"Looks like a family moment." Haku said simply.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed," see you guys later then?"

"Yeah, we'll see you around." Haku and Zabuza exited the hospital along with Naruto and Sasuke as they headed to their cars. They split up in the parking lot, and as hey reached the car, Sasuke noticed the smile that was spreading even wider on Naruto's face.

"Feeling better?"

"Of course."

"Good." Sasuke began to walk around the car.

Naruto's grabbed his wrist before he could do so, and pulled him towards him, planting a kiss on the surprised Uchiha's lips. Naruto pulled back slowly, and then continued to climb into the car. Sasuke did the same.

As he started the car Sasuke asked softly," what was that for?"

Naruto smiled and then looked out the window. "Just my way of saying thanks."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay, so I think that the next chapter may actually be the last chapter of this story, and it's really going to wrap up the Gaara dad thing mainly, so if there's something you feel needs to be elaborated on, now would be a good time to tell me. (That's a mouthful)


	18. Chapter 18: The End

Gaara let out a sigh of relief as the glass doors slid shut behind him.

"Glad to be out?" Neji said with a laugh.

"I hate hospitals." Gaara said simply, then muttered softly," the food is like cardboard."

This caused Neji's smile to widen as he pushed Gaara over to the car. He stopped and picked Gaara up without much effort, sliding him onto the back seat. "They are right, you know. You do need to gain some weight."

Gaara glanced out the window as Neji loaded the chair into the car. "You try gaining weight when you're dad makes you throw up half your food."

Neji shuddered at the thought.

"Sorry." Gaara said softly, noticing Neji reaction.

Neji shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I want to know everything."

Gaara looked out the window. "It's a lot to tell."

"We have all the time in the world."

"We do, don't we?" Gaara said with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (a couple months later)

"Today after just a few hours of deliberation, the jury returned with the verdict for the Subaku case. He has been found guilty of both physical and sexual abuse on his children. He has also been convicted in assisting the murder of Marya Van because of the confession given by the driver of the car that took her life that admitted to him being hired by Mr. Subaku. The lowest sentence he may receive is 20 years, but this reporter is confident that the judge will see to it that Mr. Subaku not see the light of the free world for a long time. The conviction cam—"

"Are you happy?"

"Yes," Gaara answered, grabbing his crutches from the side of the couch, standing up slowly.

"Good," Neji replied. "Then let's get going."

Gaara followed him outside to the car before complaining. "You still haven't told me where we are going."

"Oh," Neji said in mock shock," It's a surprise."

Gaara sighed as he climbed into the car. Ever since his talk with the investigators, Temari, and Kankuro, he wasn't exactly fond of surprises.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Flashback)

_They had gathered in his hospital room since, due to his extreme blood loss, Gaara was going to be forced to stay in the hospital for at least a few more days. _

_It had started out easy enough. Gaara recounting all the injuries given to him by his dad, including the pale scar on his forehead from Halloween and the fact that he suspected his father was involved in the death of Marya Van. It was after he finished and the investigators started asking questions that he found some unpleasant surprises._

"_Why didn't you ever tell anyone? Why didn't you seek help?"_

_Gaara answered the questions like he had every other time he had heard them. "I did tell people. They got hurt. I did seek help, and no one believed me." _

"_Were you aware that your siblings had received the same treatment?"_

"_No, they never told me."_

"_Where you aware that on December 16 three years ago, your father began to sexually abuse your sister for 6 months, promising that he would not hurt you if she consented?" _

_Gaara sat there for a moment, eyes wide. He looked at his sister who had looked away. She looked at him for a moment and gave a small nod before turning into an embrace offered by Kankuro. "No."_

_All the other questions seemed to blur after that. He must have answered effectively though because around twenty minutes later, he was again along in his room with his siblings._

"_I'm sorry." There were so many things he could have said, but they wouldn't have mattered. _

_Temari wiped away a few stray tears slowly. "Thank you. It wasn't your fault, but thank you."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (End Flashback)

Gaara watched the scenery as the car drove down one of the numerous streets in town. When the car finally stopped outside a house that rivaled Neji's in size, Gaara had no idea where he was.

"Where are we?" Gaara asked cautiously as he climbed out of the car.

"You'll see," Neji said mysteriously as he walked up to the front door quickly.

He was inside the house before Gaara and when he entered, the lights were still off. "Neji…"

The lights flicked on "Surprise!"

Gaara stumbled back a few steps, surprised, which resulted in him falling over because you really can't stumble with crutches.

"Well, I think we surprised him." Naruto said confidently.

"Ya," Temari said with a laugh.

"You okay?" Neji asked, helping Gaara stand up.

Gaara nodded weakly. "What is everyone doing here?"

"We're here to celebrate your birthday stupid!" Naruto said with a huge grin.

"But my birthday's not until tomorrow."

"That's what makes it a surprise."

Gaara shook his head. It just like them… "Okay, then. What's next?"

"We play a game!"

"What game?"

"Uh…"

"I know," Temari said," truth or dare!"

"That's a girls game!"

"I don't see you coming up with anything better."

"That sounds fine Temari," Gaara said, hoping to get Naruto to shut up for a few seconds.

"Great, then let's play!"

Gaara felt like hitting himself. What had ever made him think this was a good plan. Here they were eating pizza, about to play truth or dare. They had arranged themselves in a circle. Temari was going first.

"Okay, Neji truth or dare."

"Truth."

"Hmmm, Did you ever like Tenten?"

"No. Sasuke, truth or dare."

"Dare." Sasuke answered challengingly.

"Okay…Find Sakura at school Monday and tell her you don't know what you were thinking and you want her to take you back, without mentioning that it's all a dare until the end."

"Fine." Sasuke grumbled. "Gaara, truth or dare."

"Truth," Gaara answered cautiously, expecting some revenge.

"How long id you guys actually like us?"

"Six years," Gaara mumbled out quietly.

"Hey," Neji interjected, " You only said four before."

"Didn't want to seem too pathetic," Gaara said with a laugh.

"I know what you mean," Neji replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, Naruto said," glancing over at Sasuke," What are you going to do about Sakura on Monday?'

"Raise her hopes and crush her I suppose."

"It sounds horrible when you put it like that." Naruto said with a laugh, looking outside.

"Well," Sasuke said coming up besides Naruto," there's not much else to it."

"No, there really isn't, is there?"

"Never was." Sasuke said giving Naruto a hug as they watched the stars in the sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, how long were you planning this?" Gaara asked as he and Neji sat on one of the many balconies in the Uchiha Estate a few minutes before midnight.

"Oh, a couple weeks now I think. It was Naruto's idea at first."

Gaara nodded, "sounds like something Naruto would plan."

"Yeah, but we all got together to work on it. So, did you have fun?"

"Yeah," Gaara said with a sigh looking up at the stars.

"What is it?" Neji asked.

"I never thought I'd make it this far. Even when I did, I didn't think it be this…" Gaara couldn't find a work to describe it.

"Perfect." Neji said simply.

"Yeah, I think that's it." Gaara said looking over at Neji with a smile. Neji leaned in to kiss Gaara softly.

"Happy birthday."

Indeed, it was the happiest birthday Gaara had ever had.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It's hard for me to believe, but that really is the end. (An extreme, throw up because it's all so mushy kind, but it is an ending.) I find it hard to believe that I started this story a few months ago on a mere whim and a desire for experimentation. It turned into something that I couldn't put down. Some of the plot even caught me off guard. The original plan was to follow _A Cinderella Story_, but the plot grew into something much bigger than that.

Thank you for all the reviews. They often were what gave me the kick I needed to finish up a chapter.

Honestly, I don't know when I will write another fic with these pairings. This one was fun, and I have and idea for another based off one of my favorite books. (If you didn't know, I am a bookworm. Most books last less than five days in my hands) However, I want to finish my other stories first, but be on the lookout. I have a tendency to write whatever comes to me and with all the traveling I'm doing, the story may end up on paper very soon.


	19. Epilogue

"Dad!" The young boy ran towards the young man who swiftly picked him up and swung him around.

"How was your day?" He asked with a smile.

"Great!" The little boy gushed. He then proceeded to explain his entire day in minute detail.

Naruto laughed as he did so. When he was finally finished the boy took a minute to think before asking. "What did you get dad?"

Naruto laughed. "I was wondering when you'd remember. Look in the back." The young boy looked in the back and saw a pile of various things including a CD he knew Sasuke had been wanting for a while. He turned back to the front. "So what do you think?"

"He'll like them!' the boy replied happily.

"I would hope so." Naruto said smiling. "What'd you get him?"

The boy held up a picture he had drawn at school. "Do you think he'll like it?"

"Of course." Naruto said with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The red head stood before the grave. He had died two weeks ago, and it was only now that he could bring himself to look at the gravestone of his father.

He had been told that his father's final words had been, "Tell them that I'm sorry." Gaara looked down at the stone, trying to make sense of the jumble of emotions he felt.

A little girl ran up to him. "Dad says were going to be late for the party if you don't hurry up." The brown haired girl said with a smile. Gaara smiled back.

"Tell him I'll be there soon Marya."

"Okay," The girl ran off happily, a bundle of energy.

Gaara looked back at the grave. He threw a single white rose onto the stone. _You are forgiven._

He turned away from the stone, walking away from the past and into the endless future for they had all the time in the world.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It's just a short epilogue that I felt could be added to round out the end a bit. It gives you a glimpse of the future, a future that is undeniably bright. This is my also my thanks to all you reviewers. I never thought I'd break 100, but the counter says I have. Thanks! (Glomps you all)


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